Starting as Antigonids

[Aigle édenté]

Two times I started a game with Antigonid kingdom and two times Egypt declared me war in the beginning, while I was already fighting Macedon, putting me in an impossible situation. Am I just unlucky or is it systematic ? Maybe this is why they say AK is "hard" difficulty...

 

[IsaacCAT]

Is systematic, is the scripted Diadochis total war at the beggining of the game.

As AK you have the advantage to be the attacked nation, you do not have the aggressor penalty on AE.

Impossible situation? You can win both wars. You may need to hire some mercs with a high stat general and juggle your troops left and right. But as a Human player you can beat the AI.

It is very exciting and stressing. The one time I put me to that ordeal, I got so enfuriated with Seleukos (he declared on me while battling the other successors) that I ended conquering all of their land as retribution:

Legacy of Alexander Bravado

In 21 years in normal difficulty I was able to do almost the Alexander achievement with the Legacy of Alexander CB: Manpower is not an issue as mercs seem to have an infinite pool War exhaustion is never more than 20,00 (Everybody declares...

forum.paradoxplaza.com

 

[Aigle édenté]

I never use mercenaries, they are so expensive... You think they are a viable solution ? I already had nough trouble with Macedon... I guess I'm not very good at this game.

 

[DukeLeto42]

I never use mercenaries, they are so expensive... You think they are a viable solution ? I already had nough trouble with Macedon... I guess I'm not very good at this game.

Mercenaries are extremely expensive, but during the initial Diadocchi wars, where your population and wealth can expand massively (especially if you can position your home region levies to sack a lot of cities along the way), spending your initial gold on nothing but grabbing and sustaining good-sized merc stacks pays off.

With that said, I've also never led the AK to victory. Personally, I enjoy the position Egypt starts in - they can easily be led in a lightning strike that not only kills the AK, but can cut off the Seleukids from expansion and leave you enough time to wipe out Thrace and Macedon before you lose the LoA CB.

 

[IsaacCAT]

You do not need to be good at this game, just enjoy it.

Mercs are a very good option for 100 bucks and some monthly maintenance because they can win you a war with an equal enemy. Use them to your advantage and then dismiss them ( unless you are very small and keeping a 2 monthly cost is better because you will go to war before 4 years (the time you would have to pay 100 to rehire the mercs that cost you 2/month to keep around.))

 

[Aigle édenté]

during the initial Diadocchi wars, where your population and wealth can expand massively

How do your wealth "expand massively" ? I have a balance of 5 without hiring mercs, can't get much more...

 

[DukeLeto42]

How do your wealth "expand massively" ? I have a balance of 5 without hiring mercs, can't get much more...

All the Diadocchi can more than double in size using the LoA wargoal within the first 5 years of the game, assuming you are winning said wars (depending on who you are, that can be easy or hard). The initial merc stacks you get may bring your treasury almost to nothing, but rapid expansion can get you the eco to pay for them.

In the meantime, since the LoA wargoal requires you to capture each and every territory, make sure you are using your main levy to capture all the cities you can (split it up into little groups until you need the concentrated manpower to fight the enemy stacks). Even the option that kills no pops gives you 20 gold, and so long as the city isn't depopulated and you aren't killing integrated pops, taking the murder-ey option can rapidly build up a large treasury. This will give you enough in the bank to pay mercs until your economy catches up.

 

[Aigle édenté]

Thanks, but what is the "murder-ey" option ?

 

[Napoleon1971]

Thanks, but what is the "murder-ey" option ?

When your home province levy takes a city, you get three levels of capture: Nice, normal looting, harsh looting. The harsher you choose, the more pops in the city die. But, also, the harsher you choose, the more money your country's treasury and your leader's personal treasury receive.

As others have said, unless you're killing mostly pop-types which are already integrated, its often worth going harsh-looting. You will get cruel as a trait for your leader doing this.

 

[DukeLeto42]

As others have said, unless you're killing mostly pop-types which are already integrated, its often worth going harsh-looting. You will get cruel as a trait for your leader doing this.

To back this up, remember that while cruel is a negative trait, you're generally getting it on a reasonably old ruler (so it won't last long) and the difference in gold between levels of capture can add up into the thousands when you're talking about conquering half of Alexander's empire. Plenty to not only maintain your troops but to also bribe away your enemies' mercenaries.

On the subject of mercenaries, as a word of advice: never buy a mercenary that lacks donkeys. You want your mercs to range far afield and take your losses for you. A merc company that has no donkeys can't be relied on to take a fort without starving and needs to be babysat like your 2K levies.

 

[Napoleon1971]

To back this up, remember that while cruel is a negative trait, you're generally getting it on a reasonably old ruler (so it won't last long) and the difference in gold between levels of capture can add up into the thousands when you're talking about conquering half of Alexander's empire. Plenty to not only maintain your troops but to also bribe away your enemies' mercenaries.

On the subject of mercenaries, as a word of advice: never buy a mercenary that lacks donkeys. You want your mercs to range far afield and take your losses for you. A merc company that has no donkeys can't be relied on to take a fort without starving and needs to be babysat like your 2K levies.

Cruel is considered a negative trait. But, it has multiple positives like increasing slave income in the area of the country run directly by the ruler (which is usually one of the richest areas). The biggest negative in my experience is the random events which go along with it, particularly if you have a cruel ruler and very high war exhaustion. You'll end up having random executions at times. The rest is entirely no big deal for the most part.

 

[zmb]

You can also pre-empt the 4th War of the Diadochi events by declaring war yourself. If you're having trouble being attacked from all sides as the Antigonids, consider allying Thrace and attacking Macedon after you get claims on them but before they Diadochi event fires. Make sure to take Corinth in Greece, and if you get the Macedonian heartland you'll get a bunch of new levies. You might still get declared on by the Selukids and/or Egypt in the meantime but it probably won't be both, and Thrace won't attack you because you're allied.

 

[olivenkranz]

You can also pre-empt the 4th War of the Diadochi events by declaring war yourself. If you're having trouble being attacked from all sides as the Antigonids, consider allying Thrace and attacking Macedon after you get claims on them but before they Diadochi event fires. Make sure to take Corinth in Greece, and if you get the Macedonian heartland you'll get a bunch of new levies. You might still get declared on by the Selukids and/or Egypt in the meantime but it probably won't be both, and Thrace won't attack you because you're allied.

What I have seen sometimes (both against me and against AI) that the Seleukids declare for Aramaea before their event happens
which is a blessing, bcs just surrender that one province and kill the other 3 (or two if Thrace doesnt declare). Then you can kill Seleukids 1 v 1 since Demetrios also has access ti the LoA CB.

 

[Ixtli613]

What I have seen sometimes (both against me and against AI) that the Seleukids declare for Aramaea before their event happens
which is a blessing, bcs just surrender that one province and kill the other 3 (or two if Thrace doesnt declare). Then you can kill Seleukids 1 v 1 since Demetrios also has access ti the LoA CB.

Interesting, whenever I see one of the Diadochi skip the LoA wargoal for a normal province conquest it's usually Ptolemy going for Palestine.

 

[olivenkranz]

Interesting, whenever I see one of the Diadochi skip the LoA wargoal for a normal province conquest it's usually Ptolemy going for Palestine.

I've seen that like once (although I only check if I am in the vicinity anyway). More the Seleukids.

 

[Lord Lambert]

If you want to see how to win as the Antigonids, check out my WC run I did as them, where I used and abused the mechanics to be the only surviving Diadoch before Antigonos died.

 

[Aigle édenté]

That's very nice. I see you collect multiple feudatories. But how do you in advance if they will accept this relationship ? When you decide to ally one you risk to lose a diplomatic slot for nothing. How do you know if giving a gift or improve relations will be enough ?

 

[Ixtli613]

That's very nice. I see you collect multiple feudatories. But how do you in advance if they will accept this relationship ? When you decide to ally one you risk to lose a diplomatic slot for nothing. How do you know if giving a gift or improve relations will be enough ?

You can mouse over the red X in diplomatic actions to see the AI factors for deciding whether to accept. With this you can generally gauge whether they are close enough to be swayed to your side. It's not a guarantee however, sometimes the AI factors can change quite suddenly and ruin your efforts.

 

[Aigle édenté]

If you want to see how to win as the Antigonids, check out my WC run I did as them, where I used and abused the mechanics to be the only surviving Diadoch before Antigonos died.

Your video is awesome, you're a very tough player ! It seems all so easy for you, watching how you conquer everything.
However I don't understand how you achieve this, 3 questions :
- you split your troops and scatter them so you conquer very fast, but do you not fear to lose your little army stacks ? Actually your ennemies don't appear to want to attack you, maybe because you set difficulty to very easy ? They rather seem to ignore you...
- how do you manage to see everything and micro manage so easily so many armies ?
- You don't seem to have trouble with agressive expansion, is it because of the League of alexander CB and you fight defensive war ? You have very little AE...

 

[Lord Lambert]

you split your troops and scatter them so you conquer very fast, but do you not fear to lose your little army stacks ? Actually your ennemies don't appear to want to attack you, maybe because you set difficulty to very easy ? They rather seem to ignore you...

If 500 men get killed its no big loss. The AI may be a tad less interested in attacking for being on easy but I dont think it is enough to make this strat imoissible.

how do you manage to see everything and micro manage so easily so many armies ?

frequent pausing

You don't seem to have trouble with agressive expansion, is it because of the League of alexander CB and you fight defensive war ? You have very little AE...

it is exactly that. In the initial war the only AE I get is from the war against Thrace and Rhodes. Every other war is defensive and you don't get AE from defensive LoA CB wars.